Man who called for decapitation of Charlie Hebdo editor arrested

La Rochelle
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French police have arrested a man who used a jihadi website to call for the decapitation of the editor of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Charb, the editor of Charlie Hebdo, defended the magazine's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed this week, saying "One gets the impression it's okay for Charlie Hebdo to criticise the Catholic extreme right. But one isn't allowed to poke fun at Muslim fundamentalists. It's clearly a new rule that we will have to take note of. But we won't respect it."(The Telegraph)Radical Islamists did not appreciate the humor of the satirical cartoons. Indeed, one man was so incensed by the slur against Mohammed that he used a jihadi website to call for the decapitation of Charb. Demanding the editor's head, Al Arabiya reported the man allegedly wrote "The essential thing is not to let him live in peace.”

The man was subsequently arrested by French police in La Rochelle, but details concerning his identity or religious convictions have not yet been released.

Laurent Leger, a journalist with Charlie Hebdo, spoke about the magazine's decision to publish the Mohammed cartoons. According to WPTV he said:

"We want to laugh at the extremists -- every extremist. They can be Muslim, Jewish, Catholic. Everyone can be religious, but extremist thoughts and acts we cannot accept.

In France, we always have the right to write and draw. And if some people are not happy with this, they can sue us and we can defend ourselves. That's democracy. You don't throw bombs, you discuss, you debate. But you don't act violently. We have to stand and resist pressure from extremism."

Digital Journal reported French riot police were out in force this weekend to enforce a ban on Muslim demonstrations against the film "Innocence of Muslims" and the Mohammed cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo.